1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to protective covers for workers feet, and more specifically, to a cover for protecting the laces, toe and tongue of a shoe and thus the metatarsal and toe areas of a workers feet from damage and injury due to falling objects and/or the chunks of molten metal produced during A welding process.
2. Description of the Related Art
A frequent problem for welders is the use of protective shoes. Falling cherries (small chunks of molten metal produced during the welding process) can easily burn through the laces and tongue of an unshielded work boot causing injury to the shoe and the foot within. Burned shoelaces can cause a shoe to become loosened and lead to tripping accidents and/or injuries. Also, unsightly burn damage ruins the appearance of the shoes.
Foot protection in the prior art has taken many forms. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,553 issued Mar. 26, 1963 to Wilmanus shows that it was a well known practice to use shoe shields for protecting the instep of feet. The shield of Wilmanus is saddle-like in form, i.e. concavo-convexly curved both longitudinally and laterally to fit the contour of the instep portion of a shoe. The shield is formed of any one of plastic, steel, aluminum wood or other hard lightweight material. The underside of the shield is lined with a sponge rubber shock absorber. The shield is permanently hinged onto the toe of a shoe and is provided at its distal end with a pair of apertures for tying down the shield with the laces of the shoe so as to permit the shield to be fixed in position on with the shoes. However, portions of the tongue of the shoe and the tied shoelaces are left unshielded, exposing those portions of the tongue and laces of the shoe to injury.
Published United Kingdom Patent Application 2,126,872 of Bechtel teaches a rigid shield hinged to the toe of a boot and extending over the metatarsal region of a foot. A stirrup passing under the sole of the boot and attached to the distal end of the shield transfers shock delivered to the shield down to the ground to protect the foot from injury. The shield is a permanent attachment to the shoe or boot.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,477 issued to Mathis et al., a semi-rigid shield is shown which is shaped to conform to the tongue and shoelace area of a shoe and secured to that area by straps passing through slots in the shield. The exposed face of the shield includes a VELCRO™ type fastener device for removably securing a plurality of decorative fashion panels to the shoes.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a shoe cover solving the aforementioned problems is desired.